


Sometimes There Are No Goodbyes

by Zams_Scribbles



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin and Ahsoka get to talk it out on Endor, Canon Compliant, Comfort, Force Ghosts, Gen, Post-RotJ, Star Wars: Rebels Spoilers, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7 Spoilers, catharsis babey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zams_Scribbles/pseuds/Zams_Scribbles
Summary: Ahsoka feels she has lost her place in the Galaxy, but an old presence has brought her to Endor, and, maybe, can help her find her way.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 110





	Sometimes There Are No Goodbyes

Bonfires burned in every village for miles. The Ewok warriors, as well as countless planets, were celebrating victory, their victory over the Empire. His friends had joined the party, dancing, drinking, but Luke Skywalker had sought solitude. He needed to put his grief to rest before he could join the festivities and find joy among his friends. In the small clearing Luke had found, the long shadows of surrounding trees were held back by the light of a blazing pyre. The acrid smell of burning metal and plasteel filled the night air and the young Jedi watched flames claim the last of Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker did not notice the presence watching over him at this time.

Just out of the boy’s view, but at the same time a world apart, Anakin Skywalker gazed at the meagre funeral, his funeral, knowing it was far more than he deserved. He leaned against a tree, a casual affectation as he was no longer corporeal, yet, despite his intangibility, Anakin Skywalker could feel. He could feel more than he had in years. He was, at last, at peace. He was one with the Force.

As usual, Obi-wan was at Anakin’s side. Obi-wan Kenobi, who had not dared to hope that his apprentice would find the light, nevertheless had been there for him the moment Anakin had. Obi-wan placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. The glow from their spectral forms increased at the point of contact.

“Do you wish to go to him?” Obi-wan asked. Anakin didn’t hear so much as feel his friend’s words. He was still looking at Luke, his son. Of course he wanted to go to him. Anakin wanted to run up to his son, and beg forgiveness, and embrace him tightly, and keep him safe, and to make up for all the years he had missed. But the spectre shook his head.

“No, not yet,” he said, “Luke needs time to let go. I need to let go.” Obi-wan laughed lightly behind him and Anakin couldn’t help but smile. It felt good to smile again.

“He has become a great Jedi, but I fear the task before him is too much for anyone to achieve alone.” Obi-wan folded his arms, ever the teacher, concerned for his student. “We have left him with so little,” he sighed, “10,000 years of galactic history to rebuild from nothing.” At this, Anakin finally turned to look at his old master.

“No, he won’t be alone. His friends will be at his side, always.” The pair shared another small smile, the pain of betrayal and loss and regret hiding behind their expressions. But the galaxy could move on now, it could heal. Perhaps it no longer needed the Jedi Order, the heroes of old. It no longer needed Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi. Content, the two figures began to allow their physical forms to dissipate, returning to the Force.

Suddenly, the spirit of Anakin Skywalker glowed brighter, snapping back to his spectral state.  
“Wait,” he said, “there’s someone else I need to talk to.”

\-------------

A few klicks away, but hovering by the outskirts of the Ewok villages, was a tall figure, hooded and robed in white. She stood below one of the great trees, looking up at the grand celebrations above. The sounds of drums and flutes and cheers carried down to her. The tops of trees glowed with light, so contrasted with the lonely darkness of the forest floor below, but Ahsoka Tano felt she didn’t belong in either world. She was of the light, but her place was not among the Rebellion. She had cheated death, time and again, but her luck, destiny, whatever it was, had come at a deep personal cost. Out of time, that’s how she felt. The former Jedi no longer had a place in this galaxy, she was somewhere in-between it all. Life beckoned far above. The presence of so many glowed bright; she sensed even the joyous spirit of an old friend, a soldier still. But this was not her world. The galaxy had moved on without her, and so it was her time to move on as well. With a final glance at the light above, Ahsoka Tano turned, preparing to let go. Then she stopped. The forest around her was aglow, not with the warm oranges and reds she had seen so far above, but with a blue. 

“Anakin.”

The figure before her bowed its head before meeting Ahsoka’s eyes.

“Ahsoka.”

Hours before, Ahsoka had felt her former master pass into the Force. She had mourned him for so long, but now she felt the finality, the closure she had never found before. A shadow in her heart, one she had carried for so long had dissipated at last. The darkness, the emptiness that had overtaken the once strong bond she had shared with Anakin was gone, and he was with her again. Ahsoka had followed that connection to this forest moon of Endor.

Now, they stood perhaps 5 meters apart. In the silence, Ahsoka felt her muscles grow tense, the ghosts of Malachor haunted her still. She should have died there, why had she lived? She should be dead.

Something changed in the specter’s expression. The calm bearing that Anakin had been holding gave way to a deep sorrow. Ahsoka watched the form of her Master wrap his arms around himself, trying to regain his composure. Anakin opened his mouth to speak.

“Ahsoka, I am so sorry.” He managed.

At this both of them broke composure. Ahsoka took a step forward, then another step, then launched herself into Anakin’s arms, her hood falling back in the process. Relieved laughter, as well as tears, came too quickly to be held back by either of them. Ahsoka was surrounded by the warmth of her friend’s presence. Though Anakin had become one with the Force, the Force was a part of everything, and now, so was he. Ahsoka’s brother was home.

They held each other tightly for a moment, before finally letting go. Ahsoka stepped away, readjusting her cloak’s hood so that it covered her tall montrals. Anakin looked no different than he had over twenty years ago, when he had returned her lightsabers and left her with a smirk, running off to be a hero. He was not the ruined man Ahsoka had glimpsed during their last meeting. She looked around her, taking in the glowing spectacle of blue light that Anakin now carried with him.  
“The war is over,” she said, solemness in her heart, “it’s finally over.” 

Anakin looked further upward, following his gaze, Ahsoka saw fireworks above them, trailing colors across the night sky. 

“Yes. The galaxy, at last, is at peace.” A moment later, Anakin shook his head and continued. Ahsoka heard the formality drop out of his voice, felt him attempting to conjure up the nonchalant Jedi he had once been. “Ah, hey, told you it would be over someday, Snips.” He struggled to get the words out, but yet, he had said them.

Ahsoka allowed herself a smile and returned the casual banter as though she was still the reckless fourteen-year-old togruta she had once been.   
“Galaxy sure took its time, Skyguy.” 

The tune emanating from the treetops above changed, the drums giving way to allow a gentle flute solo to float on the wind. 

“What will you do now? Return to the Rebellion? Rebuild the Jedi Order?” Anakin asked, his attention still on the stars above. Ahsoka looked away.

“No, no, my place is not among them.” she said, emphasizing each word. She felt Anakin’s gaze move from the sky to her. “Besides,” she said, turning, “I have a promise to keep, to an old friend.”   
Standing next to his form like this, Ahsoka realized that she and Anakin were the same height. It was a small thing, but startling. Ahsoka had been a youngling when she had met Anakin, she had been an adolescent still when she had left the Order. Even when the Republic had burned around her, she hadn’t finished growing. Now she was older than Anakin had been in the form he now chose to wear, the last time he had been Anakin Skywalker. Now she realized how young Anakin, too, had been, how unprepared they all had been for the burdens of war.  
“A promise?” Anakin asked. Ahsoka nodded.

“Ezra. I promised to find him once the war was over.” Ahsoka saw Anakin tilt his head in another question. “The Bridger boy. Ezra Bridger” Anakin frowned in thought. “The boy on Malachor.” Ahsoka said finally. Recognition finally flashed in Anakin’s eyes, followed quickly by realization.

“Ah, yes,” he said awkwardly, “I remember him. He was lost, years ago.”   
Ahsoka nodded.

“He saved me, on Malachor. I promised to find him, once,” she paused, “everything was over.” Night winds shook the long ferns that dotted the ground so far below the Ewok villages. Ahsoka shivered, drawing her cloak tighter around her. Her voice returned in a whisper. “I should’ve died then. The boy broke the laws of the Force. I was destined to die then.” More tears ran down her face, trailing the patterns of white that marked her cheekbones. Ahsoka closed her eyes tightly against the emotions welling up inside of her. She felt the hand of her friend’s spirit come to rest on her shoulder. Ahsoka didn’t want to speak. She wanted to be alone again, to go back into hiding, to forget who she had been. Words escaped from behind clenched teeth.  
“I should’ve been there with you. When you needed me.”

Ahsoka saw distress register in Anakin. He grew strained. Weight seemed to manifest on Ahsoka’s shoulder where his hand lay. His response was almost a plea.  
“Ahsoka, our destiny is what we make of it. It is not set. Through it, we can achieve the greatest heights, or fall to the greatest depths. The choices I made were mine, and mine alone. Understand?” He gently turned Ahsoka to face him, grasping both her shoulders now. “You couldn’t have saved me, Snips, had you been there. Only I could’ve made that choice. And I didn’t.” Anakin had come to terms with his mistakes and had ended the horror in the only way he could, but grief for the damage he had inflicted upon those he cared about would always remain.

Slowly, Ahsoka reached up to hold the hand that rested on her shoulder. She bowed her head to feel its presence against her face.  
“Thank you, Anakin. For all you taught me.”

Anakin pulled his hand away and ran it through his hair, bashfully.  
“I couldn’t have asked for a better apprentice, or a better friend.”

The two smiled at each other, before Anakin turned away, as if hearing an unheard sound. After a moment, Anakin let out a laugh and said, “Obi-wan wants to say hello there, but he doesn’t want to intrude.” Ahsoka’s smile brightened at the thought that her old family was together again.

“Tell Obi-wan that, I miss him.” she said. Anakin turned away again, communicating to an unseen figure.  
“He says he misses you too, Ahsoka. He hopes you’re well.”

Ahsoka reached out a hand and Anakin took it.  
“Until we meet again?” Ahsoka asked.

“Until we meet again.” Anakin agreed. “Now go celebrate. My children would love to meet you. Luke needs all the help he can get.”

Ahsoka nodded, she had heard of the younger Skywalker’s escapades.  
“And I guess someone has to make sure Rex doesn’t party too hard.”

Anakin scoffed and smiled again at his former apprentice. And then he faded away. Ahsoka kept her eyes on him until the last. But his presence remained with her. As did Obi-wan’s. As did the mischievous, yet enlightened presence of Master Yoda. Ahsoka would find Ezra, she would bring him home. But tonight, she would return to the world of the light. Tonight, she would heal and she would celebrate.

**Author's Note:**

> THERE IS NOTHING IN CANON THAT SAYS THIS CAN'T HAPPEN
> 
> please Dave Filoni, give us the post-Endor closure for snips and skyguy. i know i asked for season 7, and i loved season 7, but now im hurting


End file.
